Work Group 1 Members:

WG2: Performance Assessment of Antimicrobial Coatings in Healthcare

Background

Current and new antimicrobial coatings (AMC) will only either enter the healthcare market or have an impact on hygiene and hospital acquired infections if their efficacy can be shown in appropriate (field) testing. However, testing AMCs in a healthcare environment has ethical and practical issues. In order to allow proper testing of the efficacy of an AMC it is essential to know the problem that the coated material is intended to solve. In addition, the expected site of intervention (e.g. surfaces, textiles, clothing) as well as other factors (eg cleaning and disinfection, environmental conditions etc) will have an influence on the effect intended. Many (standardised) methods are available that can detect antimicrobial properties of a large diversity of materials although a much smaller sub-set are suited to examining hygienic or self disinfecting properties. It is often difficult to decide which method should be employed to explore the effect of a certain material-coating combination in a certain environment and methods must usually be modified to demonstrate effects in practice. Furthermore, none of the methods available seem to be really suitable to predict the overall efficacy on bacterial contamination in the hospital and/or care environment. This calls for guidelines related to use and/or the design of reliable tests that can be used to evaluate and compare the effect of AMCs (e.g. impact, durability, etc.).
The AMICI action members in workgroup 2 (WG2) will therefore work on the collection of current methods, both lab-based and field-based assays. They will then be ranked and benchmarked, in relation to the use of a certain assay, to enable a better understanding of their applicability to sue in examining claims made for the performance of AMCs and to help guide the development priorities for new methods.

WG2 Members:

Join us?

We invite everyone who is experienced with the testing of antimicrobial coatings and/or other materials to either become part of the AMICI consortium and/or to share their experiences with us. For further information on WG2 Performance assessment please contact Pete Askew (link to contact info) or Birgit Teunissen (link to contact info).

WG3: Adverse effects and Risk-benefit analysis

Background

A potential and promising weapon against bacterial growth and possibly the development of multi-drug resistant bacteria has been found in AntiMicrobial (nano)-Coatings (AMC). So far, little is known about the potential harmful effects of apllication of AMC in health-care setting, i.e. (i) the ecotoxicological risks (via various waste streams) as well as (ii) the potential induction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Therefore, in order to gurantee a sustainability of application of AMC, a balanced risk-benefit analysis of widespread application of

AMC is needed, to guide a ‘Safe-by-Design’ development of AMC. The focus of WP3 is on (eco)toxicological risks and possible introduction of antimicrobial resistance AMR resulting from the use of antimicrobial coatings (AMC).

Objectives

The introduction of (nano)-coatings with new active components (e.g. nanosilver) along with different methods for cleaning (WG4) will cause a change in the emission of toxic agents into the environment. Active ingredients will slowly enter the ecosystem and cause exposure of human, livestock and microorganisms to low concentrations of different agents. These agents (e.g. AgNP, Ag+, CuNP, and TiO2) may cause adverse effects on organisms living in specific water and soil compartments. In addition, the slow infusion of active ingredients may induce resistance mechanisms that differs from current antibiotic driven mechanisms. The widespread introduction of such coatings therefore needs to be subjected to risk-benefit analyses. WG3 will focus on (eco) toxicological risks and the possible induction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) resulting from the use of antimicrobial coatings (AMC).

Deliverables & Milestones

Inventory/review on current knowledge of impact of AMCs on ecosystems

Risk/benefit analysis based on inventory of available knowledge on (eco)toxicological aspects of AMCs and possible development of AMR to AMC

Recommendations on further development and application of AMCs in healthcare, taking into account the risk/benefit analysis

Expert statement on further research and policy with regard to prevention of antimicrobial resistance

Inform regulatory bodies and analytical services on risks and benefits of AMCs in healthcare

Work Group 3 Leader:

Anne Kahru, Head of the Lab. of Environmental Toxicology, National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Tallinn, Estonia. Web: www.kbfi.ee. E-mail: anne.kahru@kbfi.ee

Siiri Kõljalg, Researcher of University of Tartu, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, and researcher of Department of Microbiology, Chair of Medical Microbiology and Virology. Web: biomedicum.ut.ee. E-mail: siiri.koljalg@kliinikum.ee

Minna Minna Keinänen-Toivola, Head of Smart Urban Business Research Team, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. She is also a Vice Chair or COST Action AmiCI. Web: www.samk.fi. E-mail: minna.keinanen-toivola@samk.fi